The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets

The band at the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo
Background information
Also known as The Thickets
Origin Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
Genres Punk rock, Horror punk, Powerpop
Years active 1992–present
Labels Divine Industries
Website http://thickets.net
Members Toren Atkinson
Merrick Atkinson
Warren C. Banks
Mario Nieva
Jordan Pratt
Past members Chris Woods, Devon Presseau, Chris West, Bob Fugger, Troy Zak

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets is a rock band from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. Their music largely consists of often tongue-in-cheek homages to the works of H. P. Lovecraft, specifically the Cthulhu Mythos.

History

The band's name is drawn from a phrase in Lovecraft's story The Tomb: "I will tell only of the lone tomb in the darkest of the hillside thickets." The band formed in January 1992 after meeting at Fraser Valley College in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Their live performances include various costumes, usually Cthulhu Mythos-themed. They have toured across North America a few times over their career, performing with such bands as GWAR, They Might Be Giants, Dayglo Abortions, MC Frontalot, Freezepop, Bad Brains and Nomeansno.

In 2008 as part of a Penny Arcade download pack, their song titled "Shhh...." was chosen for inclusion as a downloadable track for the video game Rock Band.

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets' song "Blackout" was nominated for the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards for Hard Rock/Metal Song of the year.

Members

The original three members of the band, at the January 1992 formation, were Toren Atkinson, Warren Banks and Quentin Rogers. Quentin, though, never appeared on any of their releases, nor played at any of their public performances. The first bass player to appear with the band at a show was Devon Presseau. The band has gone through several bassists and drummers since its inception. Thomas R. Falk has toured and played with the band as a second guitarist. The discography below details band member history.

The current line-up of the band consists of vocalist and lyricist Toren Atkinson, guitarist Warren Banks, guitarist/bassist Mario Nieva, drummer Jordan Pratt (former drummer for the band Mystery Machine), and bassist/backup vocalist Merrick Atkinson.

Outside of the band, Toren Atkinson is also an artist, having illustrated books for role-playing games including Dungeons & Dragons, Call of Cthulhu (and Delta Green), as well as the Lovecraft-inspired collectible card game Mythos. Warren Banks and Toren Atkinson also co-wrote (along with contributions by John Scott Tynes and Monte Cook) the roleplaying game Spaceship Zero, published by Green Ronin Publishing.

Costuming

A large part of The Thickets live shows involves the band members in costumes. This has gone through various iterations over the years, from plush gug and fungi from Yuggoth outfits to the red jumpsuit/astronaut motif for their Spaceship Zero concerts, to their Satyr costumes, and most recently, their early twentieth century nautical styles featuring mustaches.

Discography

Featuring tracks from previous albums. An all-Mythos themed CD produced in association with Wizards of the Coast to promote their new d20 edition of the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. If the CD is played during a roleplaying session, there are rules for die roll modifiers depending on what song is currently playing.
Rue Morgue (2011) uses track "Shhh..."[3]

Videography

Further details and credits

References

  1. ↑ ""The Shadow Out of Tim" Album Street Date is the Summer Solstice!". thickets.net. May 2007. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  2. ↑ "Absolute Underground asks Toren about new album". thickets.net. December 2006. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  3. ↑ "Hymns From the House of Horror Vol. II". rue-morgue.com. June 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
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